We invite you to our improvised cinema to watch Italian classics and hidden gems!

Our Italian Cineforum is back with three screenings this season, and in November, we’ll watch Mario Monicelli’s masterpiece, Risate di gioia (1960).

Cinema is a wonderful way to experience a language beyond the classroom. Through stories, conversations, humour, and everyday situations, films bring language to life while offering a window into the culture and society behind it. Our Italian cineforum is a chance to enjoy great films together, exchange ideas, connect with others, and learn through the magic of cinema!

Before every screening, our Italian teacher and cinema expert Marzia will provide a short introduction in English to point out some cinematic, cultural, and linguistic aspects as your guide to get the most out of the film. We will close the evening with an after-talk and a borrel in our café, where you can discuss the film with other film and language lovers (or just enjoy a drink).

The film has English subtitles, and the introduction will be in English. The after-talk session can be in English or Italian, depending on the preference of the participants. You don’t have to be our student to join the event; everybody is welcome!

Saturday, 21 November 2026
19:00-22:00
Gerard Doustraat 220
Ticket: €17,5 (The ticket price includes one free drink.)

Program
19:00 – Introduction
19:15 – Film
21:00 – Drinks

About the film
Original title: Risate di gioia
Director: Mario Monicelli
Year: 1960
Duration: 1h 46m
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English

Risate di gioia is a lesser-known masterpiece by the master of ‘commedia all’italiana’, Mario Monicelli. The film is set on New Year’s Eve. Gioia, an eccentric film extra who works at Cinecittà, and her penniless old friend Umberto are forced to spend the night together wandering around Roma. All sorts of things happen during this night, and the ending is… mystical.

The film is based on two short stories by Alberto Moravia (the author of La ciociara and Gli indifferenti) and could be summarised as ‘the dark side of la dolce vita’ which was released in the same year. Unlike Federico Fellini’s masterpiece La Dolce Vita, which depicts Rome and the economic boom from the perspective of the winners, Monicelli’s film, as is always the case in commedia all’italiana, offers us a fresh, offbeat perspective. We laugh with joy and… with Gioia.

Other screenings in the Italian cineforum:
Saturday 6 March 2027 “I cento passi” di Marco Tullio Giordana (2001)
Saturday 19 June 2027 “Caterina va in città” di Paolo Virzì (2003)